


Grounded

by CrimsonShield75



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Angst, F/M, Feelings, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Mass Effect 3, Therapy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-01
Updated: 2019-12-01
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:35:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21628489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrimsonShield75/pseuds/CrimsonShield75
Summary: Post the fall of Thessia, Kaidan helps Shepard work through her feelings.
Relationships: Kaidan Alenko & Female Shepard, Kaidan Alenko & Shepard, Kaidan Alenko/Female Shepard, Kaidan Alenko/Shepard
Comments: 2
Kudos: 17





	Grounded

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little something that came to mind while playing ME3. Hope you enjoy!

“I want the Prothean data. I want the Catalyst. No excuses. Dismissed.” 

Kaidan watched as the rest of the squad filed out. He didn’t miss Liara’s significantly diminished demeanor, nor the flinch Traynor made at Shepard’s harsh words. It was his job to notice these things about his crew - he couldn’t help it. 

Just like he couldn’t help following Shepard out of the War Room.

She was fuming, and hurting. She was trying her best to hide it, but he could tell. He knew her too well. 

“Shepard,” he said, as he stepped into the security scanner between the CIC and the War Room next to her. 

“Alenko,” she answered. Ouch. 

“Shepard, I have something you need to see. Can you accompany me down to the Cargo Bay?” he asked. 

“Can it wait?” The barely contained frustration in her voice was causing it to strain ever-so-slightly. 

“No ma’am. This is integral to the function of the Normandy.” 

She sighed, rubbing her hand across her forehead as she considered all that she had to do before they arrived at Horizon. The clear signal beeped, and the two of them walked into the CIC together. 

Kaidan headed to the elevator. “Ma’am?” he asked, keeping it formal. He had to keep her grounded, just for a little while longer. 

“Oh alright. This better be important,” she said, punching up the elevator. 

“Trust me, it is,” he said, stepping into the elevator behind her. 

* * *

They reached the bottom floor. Cortez was fixing something in the shuttle, but otherwise, the bay was empty. ” _Thank god,”_ Kaidan thought. 

“Hey Steve, we’re gonna be using the back of the cargo bay for a sec,” he called over to the shuttle pilot. 

“Sure thing, Major!” he called back. Kaidan prayed the other man would turn around to catch his eye. 

Thankfully, something was still working in his favor in this fucked up galaxy and Cortez glanced in their direction. Kaidan gave him a look, nodding his head at the commander, who was stoically stomping her way forward. He shook his head slightly, to which the other man nodded once. 

Cortez wouldn’t be interrupting. Good. 

Kaidan stopped in the middle of the open space near the bay door. 

“What’s so important that it couldn’t wait, Alenko?” she asked, turning towards him. 

“This,” he said. Then all of a sudden he popped on his barrier and threw a shockwave at her. 

“Hey!” she said, knocked back a few steps. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing, Major!” 

He hit her with another shockwave, followed by a push. “You just gonna let me push you around like that?” he asked, a smirk on his face. 

“Kaidan-” she said, but her words were cut off when he hit her with a stasis field. 

When the field dissipated, his commander was _pissed_. 

“That’s it,” she said. She hit him with a biotic charge, coming right at him. Her fighting style always lent itself to close-range combat. Which was a good thing for the cargo bay. 

She followed up her charge with a punch to his gut.

He was prepared for it though, and dodged out of the way at the last second, basically as if she pulled her punch.

They continued sparring, Kaidan doing his best to tease and antagonize her, while she let him have it, hitting him with all she could. Well, almost. He knew she was still holding back a little, so he took to trash-talking her. 

“That all you got, Commander?” he asked, smirking at her. 

“You wish,” she said, throwing a shockwave of her own at him. 

It knocked him back a step, but his barrier absorbed most of it. 

“No wonder you failed on Thessia, if this is how you fight,” he taunted her. 

“What did you say?” she asked, whirling to him, anger flashing in her eyes. 

“You heard me. No wonder Kai Leng beat you, if this is how you fight.” 

She charged him again, but this time she followed it up with a biotic punch. He let her hit him. She pushed him to the ground, straddling his thighs with her own, keeping him pinned, while unleashing on him biotic punch after biotic punch. 

“How _dare_ you!” she shouted, emphasizing each word with a hit to his abs or arms. “You know I did the best I could. I tried my fucking _hardest_.” Another punch. “I did all that I could. I tried to get back to the asari teams, I really did.” Two more hits to his biceps. “And we’re going to get the information back. We have a lead.” Now she did a one-two to his ribcage. “Traynor’s good, her information will pan out. We’ll get it back. What happened on Thessia wasn’t my fault.” 

She finished up her tirade with an uppercut to his jaw. If his head hadn’t already been on the ground, it would have snapped back. As it was, the force behind the hit caused his barrier to be fully depleted. 

It didn’t matter though, the exercise had been effective. 

He caught her hands that were now going for his face in his own, using his considerable strength to stop her. He couldn’t help but be impressed by how hard he had to fight to keep her from hitting him. 

She still struggled though, still tried to get at him, while she continued shouting. “I did my best. I did my _best,_ Kaidan! How dare you-” 

“Yeah,” he said, cutting her off. “You did your best. What happened on Thessia wasn’t your fault.” 

Suddenly, she stopped struggling. She stopped moving so abruptly that he let go of her wrists, wondering if he had hurt her. 

She took the opportunity to get off of him, quickly getting to her feet. She turned around, as if looking for something, but chose to fall into pacing instead. 

Slowly, he got to his feet as well. 

After a few minutes of moving around, she stopped walking and turned to face him. 

“What was that?” she asked flatly. 

Kaidan wondered if perhaps he had read the situation wrong. Her response wasn’t what he expected. But he had to keep going. They had already gotten this far. 

He shrugged. “I dunno. Just seemed like you needed to hit something. Like _actually_ hit something. And I’m probably the only one on the ship who can take it. James’ll brag that he can, but he’s no biotic. I know what you can do.” 

Shepard strode over to him. He braced himself for being hit again, telling himself that this time, he’d take it all, without the barrier. Maybe she needed to connect, skin to skin, in order to feel better. 

Turns out, she did need to connect skin to skin, just not in the way he expected. 

She grabbed his face in both of her hands and kissed him. Hard and passionately. 

Surprised, he didn’t react for a second, but his body knew what to do. After all, they had done this so many times before, it was almost as second nature to him as his biotics. He wrapped his hands around her waist, pulling her body flush against his. She groaned at the increased contact, and his cock twitched in response. 

“That was incredibly stupid of you, Kaidan,” she said, pulling back after a few moments. “Thank you.” 

He kissed her again, hard, then separated himself from her fully. This was not why he brought her here. He was also keenly aware of Steve still by the shuttle. 

“I know what it’s like for a biotic to not be able to hit as hard as they want to, thinking that they’ll hurt someone, or something. But I can take it,” he explained. 

She sighed, and her shoulders drooped. “Once again, you prove how much I don’t deserve you,” she murmured, turning away from him. 

“Hey, don’t do that,” he said, coming over to her and turning her face back towards him. “I told you, we’re in this together. I got you,” he said, placing a gentle kiss on her lips. 

“I love you,” she said, earnestness shining in her eyes. 

“I love you, too, Elizabeth,” he said, wrapping her up in his arms. “Whatever you need, I’m here for you.” 

Then the great Commander Shepard buried her face into his neck, and cried.

  
  



End file.
